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Kouga Saejima
Kouga Saejima is the Makai Knight of the East and successor to the Garo armor. Personality & Character Kouga is a young man who apparently thinks nothing else than destroying Horrors. He's not a sociable person, and he always keeps his feelings to himself, but possesses a noble and kind heart behind his emotionless façade. He spared Kaoru's life because she reminded him of his mother, but never told her about her situation. When asked by the Watchdogs and Zaruba of his intentions about Kaoru, he just said he only let her live to use her as a bait for the Horrors. Skills & Abilities Golden Knight GARO As GARO the Golden Knight, his armor helps protect him from damaging blows, but his armor isn't unbreakable. If a Horror is strong enough, they can damage and injure Kouga. Should the armor be exposed to a very powerful blow the armor will retract before the 99.9-second time limit. The Sword of GARO is a powerful weapon that can cut down almost anything and only a rare few Horrors are strong enough to resist its force. Kouga is able to use a technique called "Blazing Armament" (Rekka-Ensou). This is when he uses the Madou Fire from his MADOUBI lighter to encompass his sword and his armor to increase his damage potential. In some episodes, he's able to use Blazing Armament without the use of the Madou Fire Lighter. When riding Gouten, his combat strength is increased and his sword is able to transform into GARO-ZAN-BA KEN, "Wolf Slashing Horse Sword." Because his armor is composed of Soul Metal, the armor reacts to his will along with Madou Fire. History Early Days Young Knight in Training His father was the one that started his training at an early age and he still trains on a daily basis to sharpen his skills. Since childhood Kouga thought highly of Taiga Saejima (his father) and respected him above everything else. Because of Saejima's constant hunts, he didn't allow Kouga to associate with anyone besides Jabi, Amon, and Gonza. Losing Taiga One night young Kouga got out of bed after hearing Gonza's concern for Taiga. He followed Taiga into the forest and witnessed a fierce battle between GARO and a Horror. Kouga came out of hiding and was attacked by the figure, but Taiga took the fatal blow. Zaruba helped Taiga convey his final thoughts to Kouga: Take the title of GARO and to be brave. Kouga and Gonza at first tried every means to lift the sword out of the ground from brute strength to crane, but it would remain stuck in the forest until Kouga mastered the ability to wield Soul Metal. It took over a decade for Kouga to be strong enough to lift the sword out of the ground and assume his place as the Golden Knight. Chapter of Black Wolf Kouga fought all this time believing in his cause to destroy Horrors to avenge his father in the name of their family legacy, but it was discovered his father's killer was actually a Makai Knight. It made Kouga question his reasons and actions for slaying Horrors. His resolve wasn't weakened, but was instead focused directly at Taiga's true murderer, Barago. While in a losing fight with Kodama, Kouga lost his way and used darkness to empower his armor. Because Soul Metal reacts to the wielder, Kouga's body was being consumed by his own armor. His armor deformed into a "LOST SOUL" form, a giant golden werewolf-like berserker, killing Kodama in the process. While in darkness, his armor surpassed the timelimit and Zaruba asked for ZERO's help in taking down the GARO armor. After ZERO managed to get through Kouga's mind he struck Kouga's armor in the belly and it hit the triangle armor piece (weak spot) and Kouga's armor was lifted, saving Kouga's body and soul. In the quest to save Kaoru, they found each other in the underworld realm and Kouga went to battle with Messiah. Messiah was a strong opponent and Kouga was losing the fight because Messiah kept unleashing Horrors on him. At one point a large group of Horrors tackled and restrained Kouga, but at this point Kaoru's painting came to life giving Kouga wings becoming TSUBASABITO GARO. Though still not powerful as Meisha, Kouga managed to kill the overconfident Horror. After she fell, a spiritual black hole appeared. It was sucking everything and Kouga tried to escape into the human realm, but KIBA reappeared and tried to bring Kouga down with him. Kaoru came through the barrier and pulled Kouga back to the human realm. KIBA returned to the human realm and fought GARO for the last time. Rei and Kouga couldn't summon their armors due to KIBA's influence, so Zaruba had Kouga throw him into the mystical tear to try to summon his armor. After an intense fight from the building tower to the docks, Kouga was finally able to summon his armor. KIBA was doubtful GARO could defeat him, but GARO killed him as they exchanged blows, because Zaruba used his power to combine the strength of all the past GARO knights into Kouga's armor. Zaruba used all his energy to help Kouga summon his armor, and he faded away after the fight. Some time later, Kouga is bidding an emotional farewell to Kaoru, as she's heading to Italy to study art more intensely. She gave him the final product of her father's book, and Rei handed Kouga a restored Zaruba. Zaruba was reforged by the Watchdog as a gift, but he bears no past memories of his time with Taiga and Kouga. Kouga was reassigned to the northern district and was last seen there. Zaruba detected a Horror behind him, he reacted, and the "Chapter of the Dark Knight" ended there. Knight of White Night In GARO special "Demon Beast of the White Night", Kouga was approached by Rin Yamagatana who delivered a message from Priest Amon. Kouga didn't believe her at first, but her mentioning their unfinished bar chess game convinced him to take her seriously. Amon would return as a spirit to ask for his help to save Jabi's body. Her spirit is still linked to the living as her body is sleeping inside the Makai Beast Miki. He promises Amon to enter the Makai Forest to save Jabi. On his way he defended himself against Tsubasa's disciples guarding the Makai Forest. Tsubasa engaged Kouga to ask why he's entering the Makai Forest, but Kouga gave no straight answer. Their fight ended when Priestess Garai allowed Kouga to complete his mission to rescue Jabi. After a tough battle against Makai Beast Miki and reviving Jabi, Kouga receives new orders to contain the Legules threat. Priestess provided historical information about Legules to know their enemy better. They prepared battle over night and Rin stayed by Kouga's side until the Karakuri attacked. While fighting Legules, Kouga was asked to join the Legules family. Kouga refused and continued fighting against the Karakuri. Eventually as GARO he temporarily defeated Legules on his first attempt on the Phosphorus Arrow. Legules appeared a second time and took the arrow along with Rin. They fought through the Naraku Forest and fought Legules in his powered Horror form. Legules was too powerful and Kouga couldn't slay him. After a tough fight, Kouga was pinned under some boulders while Rin was about to be sacrificed. Kouga managed to free himself to rescue Rin just in time and summon GARO's armor by his own will, without the need of his sword. While fighting Legules, GARO decapitated him again. Legules used his tongue to pierce GARO to infect him with something that caused insect leg to grow out of his back. Kouga jabbed the Arrow into his armor to cure his condition, and took a new GARO form. The Arrow became a spear and GARO used it to pierce Legules and the barrier. Both were destroyed, and after the fight Kouga was able to meet his parents once again. Their spiritual forms appeared proud and happy for Kouga, and he had time to bow to them before they vanished. In the aftermath of the Legules, Kouga returned home to find Kaoru painting in the backyard. They welcomed each other, clasped hands and walked back home. Red Requiem External Links